ET another government has announced a so-called package for Balochistan, a grand scheme to deliver equal development across the province`s districts. The announcement has come only months ahead of a general election and just weeks after the PML-N was defeated in the provincial assembly. Sceptics will inevitably suggest that the latest economic package for Balochistan, however well-meaning, will in practice amount to a giveaway to a province where hundreds of billions of rupees have been poured in over the last decade to little visible effect. Still, given the persistently abysmal socioeconomic indicators across Balochistan, targeted economic and social interventions must continue to be applied.

What Prime Minister Shahid Khagan Abbasi, who announced the `equalisation package`, ought to consider is how far the new scheme will deliver marginal improvements; resource delivery must be tailored accordingly.

With low expectations but an open mind, the latest economic package for Balochistan could improve the quality of infrastructure as long as considerations about adequate personnel and administration are also taken into account. Building more schools without adequate teaching staff, for example, merely adds to the number of students without imparting a meaningful education. In the case of hospitals, the problem is more pronounced. The best medical technology in the world translates into few health benefits if there is an acute shortage of trained doctors and other medical personnel in public hospitals and clinics. Mr Abbasi did not mention how matching funds by the centre can address questions about the quality of service delivery in Balochistan in which case, the package might appear to be little more than an attempt to win over PML-N dissidents in the Balochistan Assembly ahead of the Senate polls and potentially help the PML-N ahead of the general election with patronage distribution.

Ultimately, there will be a need for a hard-nosed analysis of the underlying challenges in Balochistan that have relegated the province to the bottom of the political, social and economic development ladder according to most independent measurements.

Certainly, as in Fata, without adequate and well-spent economic resources, Balochistan would not be able to catch up with the rest of Pakistan. At the same time, allowing political and security challenges to go unaddressed will only ensure that Balochistan remains in the grip of insecurity, no matter what the value of any financial or development package may be. Like all his predecessors in this era of democracy, Mr Abbasi speaks the language of development in Balochistan without having the courage to address institutional differences that have allowed the security establishment to dominate policy in the province. There continues to be a democratic willingness in the other provinces to do whatever it takes to help Balochistan join a modern, progressive vision of Pakistan. But security is the issue that does and will dominate.